Sinead O’Connor
In the 50-year history of Saturday Night Live, the show’s myriad musical highlights have been paired with plenty of controversies, but creator and producer Lorne Michaels has asserted that no musical guest has ever been barred from returning.
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Michaels’ claims emerged in the new three-hour documentary Ladies & Gentleman… 50 Years of SNL Music, which premiered on NBC on Monday (Jan. 27). Alongside notable revelations in regards to the show’s musical history (including the fact that no one seems to know the melody to the SNL theme song), Michaels pushed back at long-standing reports that numerous artists have been banned from the show for various reasons.
“I’ll read it sometimes in the Post, ‘So and so’s banned for life,’” Michaels explained. “We’ve never banned anyone. We’re way too crass and opportunistic. If something’s hot, we’re going to go for it and have it on.”
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Though it’s not exactly clear where the reports that artists have been banned from SNL have emerged from over the years, a number of controversial appearances make it easy to see why bans would be expected.
One of the earliest incidents of an apparently banned performer came from a December 1977 episode in which Elvis Costello stepped in for the Sex Pistols. Despite planning to perform “Less Than Zero”, Costello switched up his set at the last moment and instead performed “Radio Radio” – a track that was critical of commercial radio in his native U.K. Undeterred by the negative reaction his appearance generated from the show’s staff, Costello later returned to the show in 1989, 1991, and again in 1999 where he parodied his first performance alongside the Beastie Boys.
Among the most notable examples of controversial musical guests was that of Sinéad O’Connor, who tore up an image of Pope John Paul II during an a cappella performance of Bob Marley’s “War” in 1992. Protesting sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church, O’Connor’s urging for viewers to “fight the real enemy” became one of the most infamous moments on the show’s history.
Other instances also include Los Angeles punk outfit Fear appearing on the show at the insistence of John Belushi in 1981, with their rowdy set reportedly causing $500,000 in damage. A 2004 performance from Ashlee Simpson also gained international notoriety after she was revealed to be lip-syncing due to illness, though she would later return the following year without incident.
The nascent documentary also featured further information about Rage Against the Machine’s 1996 performance, in which they appeared alongside then-presidential candidate Steve Forbes.
Following a version of “Bulls on Parade” (which was planned to feature upside-down American flags hung from their amps until stagehands intervened), bassist Tim Commerford vented his frustration by throwing one of the flags into Forbes’ empty dressing room. The incident caused the Secret Service to respond on behalf of the billionaire, locking the band down in their dressing room until the completion of the show.
The 50 Years of SNL Music documentary – which is co-directed by Oscar-winning Roots drummer Questlove – is part of SNL’s 50th anniversary programming, and arrived following the premiere of SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night on Jan. 16.
The will of late Irish musician Sinéad O’Connor has been revealed, with the singer’s children being urged to get as much value as they can out of her archive of unreleased music.
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According to Irish probate records obtained by U.K. tabloid The Sun, O’Connor – who passed away in 2023 – left her family £1.4 million after debts, legal fees, and funeral costs. Her ex-husband, music producer John Reynolds, was named executor of her estate.
Signed in 2013 ahead of her conversion to Islam in 2018, the document also requested that she be buried in priest clothing, and accompanied by a Hebrew bible and a copy of her 2007 record Theology, while noting her children may “dispense my ashes as they see fit”.
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Meanwhile, O’Connor’s religious regalia was bestowed to her son Shane (who passed away in 2022), while her youngest son Yeshua was given her collection of guitars. The documents additionally instructed her children to ensure they get their money’s worth out of any recorded music that has not yet been released.
“I direct that after my death, and at the discretion of any of my children who are then over 18, my albums are to be released so as to ‘milk it for what it’s worth’,” she wrote.
O’Connor passed away in July 2023 at the age of 56, with her death later being attributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.
First establishing her presence on the music scene with her 1987 debut The Lion and the Cobra, O’Connor achieved further worldwide recognition with the release of 1990’s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. Peaking at No. 1 globally, including on the Billboard 200, the record’s success was bolstered by her cover of The Family’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and was named #1 World Single at that year’s Billboard Music Awards.
O’Connor’s final album, I’m Not Bossy, I’m the Boss, was released in 2014. Weeks before her passing in 2023, O’Connor had told fans she was in the process of completing an album which was planned to arrive in 2024, with a world tour set to accompany its release that would include stops in the U.S., Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
In 2021, O’Connor had also spoken to People about the advice she had given her children ahead of her eventual passing, telling them they should be prepared to call an accountant ahead of 911.
“See, when the artists are dead, they’re much more valuable than when they’re alive,” she told the publication. “Tupac has released way more albums since he died than he ever did alive, so it’s kind of gross what record companies do.
“That’s why I’ve always instructed my children since they were very small, ‘If your mother drops dead tomorrow, before you called 911, call my accountant and make sure the record companies don’t start releasing my records and not telling you where the money is.’”
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